Fico: V4 Countries to Propose Amendments to European Council Conclusions

Brussels, 15 October (TASR) - The Visegrad Four (V4) countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) will propose three specific amendments to the European Council conclusions, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) announced on Wednesday (14 October) following a meeting of the V4 prime ministers in Brussels, TASR has learnt from its special correspondent. According to Fico, the V4 countries will ask the European Council to formulate its demands to the European Commission (EC) more clearly, and they will also call for the introduction of the ETS2 emissions-trading system to be postponed by more than one year. The third demand concerns the use of the Market Stability Reserve under ETS1. The V4 countries' position was set to be fine-tuned overnight before being submitted to European Council President Antonio Costa on Thursday morning, said Fico, who added that other leaders were likely to back it. "The V4 prime ministers believe that, with fuel prices rising sharply, the introduction of this system will mean a steep increase in transport and housing costs. In view of this, we want to come up with specific proposals," said Fico. According to him, there's no consensus among EU leaders regarding emissions trading (ETS1) because some countries gain "huge revenues" from this system, while others criticise it for causing electricity prices to rise significantly. "We often hear statements about a united Europe and a single market, but this doesn't apply to electricity. There are regions in Europe in which the price can be €50–60 per megawatt-hour, while in other regions, including in Slovakia, it's well above €100 and can even approach €200 per megawatt-hour," warned Fico, adding that the European Council should take the V4's stance into account, as its combined population is more than 60 million. "We want the European Commission to stop exploring avenues, observing and monitoring. We want it to come up with something specific," he said, pointing out that V4 is aligned in its stance on the possibility of a longer postponement of ETS2 than just one year due to concerns that this mechanism will be translated into price hikes in housing and transport. "It's our duty to present joint positions," said Fico, adding that this also applies to the proposal concerning the ETS stability reserve mechanism, which impacts the price of emission allowances. jrg/df